Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko celebrates after she was elected PM in Ukraine's parliament in Kiev, 18 Dec 2007

Ukraine's parliament has approved Yulia Tymoshenko as the country's new prime minister.

Ms. Tymoshenko received 226 votes in the 450-member parliament, the bare minimum required for confirmation. Two-hundred-twenty-five lawmakers opposed to her return as prime minister boycotted the vote.

Last week, the outspoken Ms. Tymoshenko, who favors closer ties with the West, lost approval in parliament by a single vote. She then accused her political rivals of tampering with the electronic voting machine.

Parliament later approved the Cabinet, including Volodymyr Ohryzko as foreign minister and Yuri Yekhanurov in the defense post.

President Viktor Yushchenko nominated Ms. Tymoshenko after allied lawmakers agreed to recreate the Western-leaning Orange coalition that brought Mr. Yushchenko to power in 2005.

The two were partners in the mass protests against a fraudulent 2004 presidential election. Mr. Yushchenko won the court-ordered re-vote and named her prime minister. He later fired her in a political dispute.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.